Only in America does the chauffeur become the boss.
Joseph “Jo Jo” Corozzo, the former driver and boyhood pal of the late John Gotti, is believed to be the next heir to the Gambino crime family, law-enforcement officials said.
Corozzo, 61, was elevated to the rank of consigliere, or counsel, behind Arnold Squitieri, the reputed underboss, and Gotti’s brother, Peter, the family’s acting head, at a secret meeting a few weeks before the Dapper Don succumbed to cancer last June, sources said.
But Gotti’s brother is being held in federal custody awaiting trial on racketeering charges that could put him behind bars for up to 20 years.
And Squitieri, a convicted murderer who once dealt drugs with Gotti’s other brother, Gene, is unable to take the reins because he’s on parole and barred from meeting with reputed criminals and wiseguys.
The Gotti and Corozzo families – each with three brothers who ran afoul of the law – trace their roots to tough Brooklyn neighborhoods in East New York and Flatbush, where they grew up shooting dice together while making their bones in the mob.
Years later, the Dapper Don and the eldest Corozzo, Nick “Little Nicky” Corozzo, became powerful capos under Aniello Delacroce, the underboss for Paul “Big Paul” Castellano. After Castellano was murdered, Gotti and Nicky Corozzo were tried together and acquitted.
After Gotti was jailed for life, the heads of the other families selected Nick Corozzo to replace Gotti, but Nicky was sent to prison in a separate case. Now, his younger brother, Jo Jo Corozzo, is poised to take over, sources said.